All the Small Things
by CloudsAreFluffie
Summary: One-shot challenge with 101 prompts. I've decided to make the Pokémon gameverse my victim. Rating is perhaps subject to change. Challenge 3: Don't Go
1. Happy

_**Happy**_

_Characters: Volkner, Flint_

_Genre: Friendship, Hurt/Comfort_

_Rating: T because of cussing and the… theme…_

* * *

Volkner was a lot of things. He was talented; a fabulous battler. He was a pretty smart guy. One thing he wasn't, however, was happy. He did his very best to hide this and he quite obviously wasn't very good at it. Still, most young ladies seemed to think this made him 'mysterious' and 'dark' and all of these other thing, when in actuality, he wasn't.

Volkner was…

Brought out of his own mindless thoughts as he sat boredly when his door burst open over-dramatically. The Jolteon that had been sleeping on the floor awoke with a start, crackling with electricity as he jumped to his feet. However, the Pokémon only discovered there was a friend in the doorway.

"Hiya!" Flint greeted, announcing his presence to Volkner and everyone within the entire apartment complex that that blond lived. Volkner simply responded with a small nod. Flint smacked upside the head, making his way to the kitchen to steal Volkner's food, Jolteon happily following after him. Usually Flint gave Volkner at least a bit of positive energy (how could he not?), but today... happiness really didn't seem like an option.

There wasn't anything in particular that was eating at him; he simply had these kinds of days. Some days, Volkner didn't want to leave the house. He didn't want to eat or talk or even sleep. He just didn't want to do anything.

This was one of those days.

He did not want Flint to be here; _not today_.

"Why are you here?" he finally managed to ask. Even to Volkner, his voice sounded pathetic. Flint, however, was completely oblivious and simply thought of it as Normal Volkner Behavior. He looks up at his friend from the nearby kitchen, a whole sandwich in his mouth. He 'accidentally' dropped a piece of meat on the ground, which Jolteon immediately scarfed down. Flint swallowed a bite.

"Why not?" He shrugged and looked down at Jolteon, who was licking the floor. "Hey, have you fed Jolteon lately? He seems… really… hungry…" Flint tilted his head, finally realizing something was most definitely 'off' with his dear friend. "Uh… Volkner?" Volkner said nothing. He looked out the window. "Volkner?" Flint frowned and dropped the rest of the sandwich on the floor for Jolteon, making his way back to the living room.

Volkner was sitting on the couch as he had been when Flint entered, but he came to realize that his friend was kind of in a sorry state. He was still in his pajamas, although it was late afternoon. There were bags under his eyes and he was unshaven. His eyes remained focused on the lights of Sunyshore in the darkening outside. Flint furrowed his eye brows in confusion.

"Volkner?"

"Why are you here?" the blond man asked again. Flint's eyes narrowed. He shoved his hands in his pockets and strode in front of the window, blocking Volkner's gaze. Volkner's expression didn't shift even slightly and he didn't look at Flint.

"Yo, what the hell is up with you?" Volkner didn't answer. He didn't blink. It didn't even look like he was breathing. Flint took a hand out of his pocket to snap his fingers loudly. Volkner slowly brought up his eyes to look Flint in the face.

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

"No I don't." That was a complete, blatant, flat-out lie and they both knew it. Volkner knew exactly what he meant. It's not as if he wasn't aware of… this. He knew perfectly well that… this wasn't normal; not for anyone.

"Oh really?" Flint said in an uncharacteristically dry tone that was… actually more suited to Volkner. "Where are the normal complaints?" No answer. "Where are you normal sarcastic remarks?" No answer. "Where's Volkner?" The gym leader's eyes closed and his head went down. Flint got an answer out of that one.

"Not sure."

It wasn't the answer he was expecting and nothing he was prepared for. Flint simply stared at his friend with wide eyes and one hand in his pocket. Somewhere in the kitchen, Jolteon's claws clacked on the linoleum.

"Uh… Volkner…" Flint finally said after a moment. "This uh… this isn't right. Have you…" He trailed off, trying to think of a way convey this properly.

"Have I what?" Volkner asked slowly.

"I don't know… is there even a reason for…" His other hand came out of his pocket so he could properly flail his arms around Volkner's living room. "…this?" Volkner smashed his hands on his face, a sudden rush of irritability taking over.

"Why!? I don't even know what you're talking about!" Flint grabbed hold of Volkner's wrist and pulled one hand away from his face.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" he snapped. Volkner gave him a stone cold glare, but he was trembling. After a moment or two, Volkner reclaimed his arm and looked away.

"…It's nothing, okay? It's nothing."

"Bullshit." Volkner's eyes widened a little. The answer was so quick and so firm that he wasn't quite sure what to do.

So he stood.

"Listen, if you wouldn't just barge into my house unannounced, we wouldn't be having this problem." Flint's face was cold and his shoulders slumped.

"Really? Normally when I barge into your house unannounced, you're annoyed, not depressed. There's clearly some sort of issue here."

"I'm not depressed!" Volkner snapped a bit too fiercely, causing Flint to straighten up his posture, going wide eyed again.

Flint was a carefree, somewhat oblivious man. It was a common misconception that he was stupid. This was by no means true. He was actually rather intelligent when push came to shove.

"Vol-"

"I'm not depressed!" Volkner said a little louder, even though Flint didn't say anything.

"Volkner…"

"I'm not…" Volkner collapsed back to the couch, head in his hands. "I'm not… depress… ed…"

"You're depressed."

"I know, dammit! So leave me alone!"

"Hell no." Volkner gritted his teeth.

"Listen, I don't know what you're going to do, but you can't make me happy! You can't!"

"I know."

"It's im- what."

"I said 'I know'." Flint leaned back, putting his arms above his head. Volkner looked over at him in genuine shock, searching his face for an answer. Flint closed his eyes. "Hey, we've managed to keep this hidden from the general public for a good while now, but Lucian used to be pretty bad too." Volkner said nothing and his gaze did not change. "To most people he doesn't seem any different because all he does is read, but… he used to be different; trust me. _The point is_, it took an intervention from me, Aaron, and the ladies to make him even realize it. _You, _on the other hand, already know it's a problem. You just need to toughen up and ask someone for help."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"What?"

"'Toughen up and ask someone for help'. That doesn't make sense." Flint rolled his eyes.

"Right. And _I'm _the stupid one." The Elite leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, eyes focused on the ground. "A weak person does everything on his own. A weak person thinks he can solve everything without the help of someone else, even though he knows he needs it."

"Can a weak person be happy?" Flint contemplated this a moment.

"I don't think you're getting what I mean by 'weak'."

"I don't care. I just wan… t…" Volkner trailed off. Flint tilted his head.

"Hmm?"

"…I just want… to be happy…" Flint sighed heavily, pushing himself to his feet.

"If you want it that bad, you've gotta be willing to do something about it. Even if you feel like just sitting there, you've gotta _do something._ No matter how little energy you've got. _Do something. _Go for a walk, destroy some kid's Buizel, cause a region-wide blackout, _I don't give a shit what it is. __**Do something.**_" Flint headed for the door, Jolteon trotting up to say goodbye. "If you don't want help, you've gotta do it yourself."

And he was gone.

Volkner stared at the door for a long, long time. He was only snapped out of his trance when Jolteon jumped up beside him, curling up. He patted his head, small licks of electricity tickling his hand. The blond man thought for a moment, eyes focused on the floor.

What would it take to be happy? He didn't know.

Perhaps there was no formula. Maybe it wasn't something to be solved. Or maybe it was a very intricate process. He just didn't know.

Whatever it was, he couldn't deny Flint had a point. When he had one of those days where he didn't want to do anything, he didn't do anything. Simple as that. He never tried fighting that feeling.

Volkner stood. Jolteon tilted his head at his master.

The man did not know what steps he was supposed to take or where those steps would take him. But anything that could make him happy was worth a shot.

He would start with a shower.

* * *

_Welcome one and all to my one-shot challenge! We have started things off with such a cheery story. Allow me to explain myself a bit here._

_I, like many, suffer from depression. I am heavily medicated. (Which reminds me, when Flint said 'help' he meant 'see a damn doctor') But, as those of you who suffer along with me know, when no one knows and you're on your own, it's a hell of a struggle. I kinda tried to depict that but I'm not quite sure it worked out for me._

_I promise not all of these will be serious. I'm going to try to vary my genres quite a bit._

_So, it's time to continue. My goal is to finish this before the end of my senior year!_

_I have a 100 to go._

_Gee._


	2. Smile

_**Smile**_

_Characters: Skyla, Elesa_

_Genre: Romance_

_Rating: K+_

_Contains AirplaneShipping_

* * *

One particular summer evening, Skyla studied a single page of a magazine. She pursed her lips and cocked her head, turning the glossy booklet in several different directions. The redhead squinted at the page, bringing it closer and farther from her face.

Elesa didn't speak up until the magazine was upside down.

"What are you doing?" Skyla's baby blues shot up from behind the paper, studying her girlfriend's blank face. Slowly, she turned it around (right side up) to display it.

The picture was of herself. The only oddity Elesa saw was her hair. It was taken quite awhile ago, as it was blonde. She took a lock of her presently black hair between two fingers and cocked her head.

"Does it… look better blonde?" Skyla narrowed her eyes and scowled, jabbing her finger at the blonde Elesa's face. Or, more specifically, her lips. Upon them was a small, sweet smile.

"Why don't you smile like that for real?" she practically whined. Elesa blinked twice and released her hair.

"How can I make a fake smile for real?" Skyla puffed out her cheeks and shoved her face forward. Elesa leaned back a bit.

"By smiling for real!" Skyla pushed her index fingers into the corners of the other gym leader's mouth, forcing it upwards. Elesa pushed her arms down gently, not taking her eyes away from the redhead's pouting face.

"That's how they told me to smile, you know. It's not my real smile."

"Well, why can't I see that one?! You never smile!" Elesa's head tilted again.

"Yes I do." Skyla stared for a long while. Finally, she ducked her head down, her shoulders arched to her ears.

"…Not for me…" she mumbled sadly, drawing her knees to her chest. Elesa sat up straighter, thinking hard. When _was _the last time she gave her own girlfriend a genuine smile.

She couldn't recall.

A rush of guilt came over the woman. She leaned forward and tapped Skyla's knee.

"I'm sorry." Skyla's eyes shifted. "I didn't realize I…" Elesa trailed off, realizing she had no idea where she was going with this. How _did _one apologize for not smiling enough?

"It's okay…" Skyla whispered, pulling her knees in tighter. "People smile when they're happy. And if you're not happy, you don't smile."

Elesa didn't have to think about that at all. Skyla's tone didn't leave anything to wonder. The indirect 'I don't make you happy, do I?' hit her in the face like a bag of bricks.

Elesa sat forward on the balls of her feet, resting her chin on Skyla's knees.

"Hey now," she said softly. "Just because I don't smile doesn't mean I'm not happy." There was a long drawn silence before Skyla said anything back.

"How am I supposed to know that?" Elesa sighed in defeat, falling back on her butt.

"I supposed you have no way to know, huh?" She couldn't even see Skyla's face anymore; she'd practically curled into a ball. "I hope you can take my word that I _am _happy." Skyla peeked out from between her knees. "I am. And I owe a lot of that to you." Skyla's eyes welled with tears as a sad smile spread across Elesa's face. Her whole body lurched forward, practically tackling Elesa to the ground with a hug, tittering about how she was sorry and that Elesa was cute and that she was happy too.

Elesa laughed, smiling wider.

* * *

_I dunno. I knew what this was going to be about but I didn't have a single clue what direction I was going with it. This one I guess._

_I'm a sucker for AirplaneShipping._


	3. Don't Go

_**Don't Go**_

_Characters: Morty, Eusine, and also a sparkly bird_

_Genre: I honestly don't know what to call this. Friendship? Romance? General? Spiritual? Western? We just don't know._

_Rating: T because naughty words_

_I don't know if this is considered SacredShipping or not._

* * *

Two pairs of footsteps stepped quietly on a stone road. Autumn nights were chilly in Ecruteak City. If this night were any sort of exception, it would be that it was exceptionally chilly. Sane people were indoors, which meant everyone else in that city was mentally stable enough to know that walking around outside at 1 AM in November was really stupid.

That was a rather bitter thought, Morty noted, but in his own defense, he was feeling rather bitter. A thin sweater and a scarf were not at all warm enough for this sort of weather. And why was Morty freezing his ass off at ungodly hours of the night?

Because his best friend was a selfish prick.

The Gym Leader sighed softly to himself, knowing that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fully blame him. It was his own fault, too. He was _such_ a pushover, especially when it came to Eusine.

That thought just made him more upset.

"Eusine," he finally piped up as trees began to outnumber buildings. "Where are we going?" Eusine sent Morty a glance over his shoulder.

"I told you it's not important," he replied simply. Morty frowned.

"If you're going to drag me out into the forest in the middle of the night, at least have the courtesy to tell me why."

Eusine snorted. "I'm not dragging you anywhere."

"Well, not literally. But you would still be bothering me to come with you if I didn't agree to, wouldn't you?" Eusine didn't respond to that, so Morty grabbed his cape and pulled him to a stop.

"Hey!" Eusine snapped, spinning around. "Don't touch my cape!" Morty stared for a moment. He couldn't believe that sentence actually happened and suddenly he was in a fit of laughter. "What are you laughing about?" Morty waved him off lamely and clamed his uncharacteristic cackling. He really did have a cackle, too. It was really pretty ugly and Morty idly pondered if that was subconsciously why he didn't laugh much.

When Morty finally returned to the real word (which, he regretfully found, was still freezing-ass cold), Eusine was staring at him, looking slightly concerned.

"What?" Morty asked. Eusine simply threw up his arms and kept walking. "Okay. Yeah. You do that. I'm going to go home and get some sleep…"

"No!" Eusine cried, turning back around so he could grab on to Morty's wrist. "You have to come with me. I promise it's worth it." Morty yanked his arm free and glared as best he could (which was really badly).

"It never ends up being worth it. Goodnight, Eusine." Morty turned and started off again, but Eusine wasn't letting him off that easy.

Not that Morty was expecting him to.

"Morty, please! Come on! It really is worth it this time!" The Gym Leader didn't turn around and continued walking slowly toward the city. Eusine gritted his teeth. "Morty!"

Morty choked.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" he croaked, pulling his scarf out of Eusine's grasp. He rubbed his neck to check for any damage, looking half pissed, half terrified. He always said Eusine would be the death of his, but this was ridiculous.

"No, I just-" Eusine sighed and scratched the back of his head, flustered. "Don't go, okay? We've been walking for a long time and if we don't hurry it'll all be for nothi-" Eusine stopped short when Morty's eyes went wide, directed toward the sky. He turned to look as well, and cracked a smile.

It was certainly high up, but very visible on the dark sky. Among the speckles of sparkly stars, an avian figure shone brightest, surrounded in an orangish-white glow and left streaks of green, yellow, red, and blue behind as it flew. A high cry could be heard as it passed over the waxing moon, but it was so distant it almost seemed more like an echo- as if it was just an illusion.

Morty couldn't tear his eyes away.

"Is that what you-"

"Yep," Eusine interrupted, quiet but cheerful. "Rumors spread fast. I'd be screwed if it wasn't true, but I wasn't going to risk it either." He nodded seriously, an egotistic smirk on his face. Morty didn't say anything in return. He didn't even move until the bird became just a star among stars.

There was a few seconds of uncomfortable silence after the legendary Pokémon passed over. Morty tried in vain to speak, but he was a bit too embarrassed to actually get any words out. After all, he had just thrown a mild temper tantrum a few minutes before. However, it seemed that Eusine wasn't all too concerned that Morty said anything at all. He turned around and headed back toward the city with his hands keeping warm in his pockets. Morty waited a few seconds before starting after him again.

* * *

_Sorry to all two of you that actually read this story. Wow it's taken me like almost half a year to update this thing and all you get is this piece of shit. I just had no idea what to do with this prompt! But it's done ugh._

_Did I make Ho-Oh sound gay enough?_


End file.
